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University not warning us of assaults, York students say

In the wake of two sexual assaults in a York University dorm Friday night, questions are again being raised about the university’s culture of secrecy surrounding such incidents.

“York is doing the bare minimum of what they should be doing in communicating these incidents to the students,” said Vanessa Hunt, president of the York Federation of Students.

“They have security bulletins that they post on their website, but no one checks that. It’s inadequate.”

A 30-year-old man allegedly entered a room at the residence and assaulted two women.

It’s unclear how he was able to get into the residence and roam its halls on at least two occasions. Night porters watch the main doors from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. and the buildings have roving “residence watch officers,” said York spokesman Wallace Pidgeon.

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One of these officers was instrumental in detaining a suspect on Friday, Pidgeon said.

“Not to diminish what happened . . . it was inappropriate kissing and hugging,” he added.

Faizan Ali is charged with two counts of sexual assault. Ali is not a York student, police said.

Friday’s events were detailed in the school’s newsletter, Y-File, which was emailed to students Monday morning since it only publishes on weekdays.

“If they really wanted to inform students, they’d email everyone when an incident happens. Everyone checks email,” said Hunt, adding nothing is sent out via Twitter or Facebook.

Pidgeon said security bulletins are also sent to YU Connect, a private website for students. No one reads that either, according to Hunt.

Silence can be the worst strategy in cases of sexual assault, said Rita Kohli, executive director of Sexual Assault/Rape Crisis Centre of Peel.

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“People have to be told . . . they need to be warned. Any kind of secrecy can be detrimental.”

Dozens of students declined to be interviewed as they poured out of the Norman Bethune residence on Sunday afternoon after a mandatory meeting with residence officials about the alleged incident.

When approached, students said university officials had explicitly told them not to speak to the media about the incident. York officials said they had no knowledge of any such instructions.

York has a long history of sexual violence on and near campus.

Two years ago, after pressure from various student unions, York commissioned a safety audit.

Pidgeon said the university has implemented some of the 101 recommendations, such as more lighting throughout the sprawling campus. He also said York expects to increase its security force by as much as 40 per cent in the coming school year and noted it has increased its budget for safety and security by $500,000 over the past year.

Meanwhile, a 23-year-old visa student from China, who arrived June 30 to improve her English at York, is still scared.

“My friends and family warned me about the other incidents,” said the young woman who declined to give her name. “But I felt safe until now.”

Last Monday, the woman said, she met a man at the Norman Bethune residence. He said he was a student at York and offered to help her with school work. He seemed nice, she said, so she gave him her phone number.

Over the next few days, he called repeatedly, trying to persuade her to get together to help with her work. She was busy but also felt the excessive phone calls were a “bit strange.”

Then she heard about the dorm incident Friday, and discovered it was the same man who had been calling her.

“York needs to do something about this,” she said with trembling hands.

A 2010 Toronto Life story quoted a former York University media relations officer as saying there had been 66 reported incidences of sexual assault at the university from 2000 to 2009.

It’s tough to compare incidences of sexual assault at the three Toronto universities — York, University of Toronto and Ryerson University — because of geographical location, number of students and different statistics available.

At Ryerson, there were nine incidents from 2008 to 2010.

U of T reported 30 incidents from 2006 to 2009 while York, which calculates for every fiscal year, reported 43 incidents from 2005-06 to 2009-10.

(There are about 63,000 students across all U of T campuses and about 56,000 students at York. About 28,000 students attend Ryerson.)

History of assaults:

2000: A sexual predator assaulted at least seven women in the York University area from July to October. Except for two, all attacks were on isolated pathways at the York’s Keele St. campus. Dubbed the York University Rapist, Philip Foremsky was sentenced to five years in prison in 2001.

2006: Two young York students were violently assaulted in November in the Sentinel Rd. and Murray Ross Parkway area. A man was arrested during a third attempted sexual assault.

2007: During frosh week, two men walked into six dorm rooms on different floors of York’s Vanier College. They sexually assaulted two women, both 19, who were sleeping alone with doors unlocked. The two entered at least six rooms and tried to attack a third woman. Daniel Katsnelson was sentenced to eight years in prison and Justin Connort received a three-year sentence.

2008: A student was attacked and sexually assaulted in January. Police said the attack took place in the stairwell of the Founders College residence.

2010: A 20-year-old student was sexually assaulted by three men in April. She was attacked as she walked to her apartment south of the campus in an area where many students live known as The Village, near Keele St. and Finch Ave. W.

April 5, 2011: A student was attacked by three males outside the Absinthe Pub on campus.

April 15: Qian Liu, a 23-year-old visa student from China was attacked in her basement apartment near York and found dead, just hours after her boyfriend in China watched via webcam as she tried to fend off an attacker who appeared at her door. Brian Dickson, 29, has been charged with first-degree murder.

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